For the best part of 7 years between 2013 and 2020, the report card for Manchester United Football club would have read “Below expectations.”
If we factored in over 500 million dollars of investment in players over these years, the report card would then say “Significantly below expectations.”
Then, in Jan 2020, one player joined this expensively assembled underperforming squad. And, in the 37 premier league games that have followed, he has scored 21 goals and 16 assists.
Manchester United were struggling in 6th place when he joined. His presence propelled the team to an unlikely 3rd place finish at the end of the season. And, he has continued to inspire the team this season to be genuine title contenders.
I wrote about Bruno 6 months after he signed.
Before he was signed, Bruno Fernandes wouldn’t have been mentioned in a list of the top 10 or 20 or even 50 players on the planet. How, then, was this transformation possible?
It turned out he just brought the kind of skills the team needed at the time with a willingness to work very hard and show up to every game and practice session with a great attitude and the desire to win.
It has been fascinating to watch the transformative effect of this one player’s arrival on a massive football club. And, that he did it with a great combination of skill, heart, and attitude makes it all the more inspiring.
It is a great reminder of the effect this combination can have on any team.
If he can do it, perhaps… just perhaps… so can we.
I will be the first to admit that I had my doubts about whether this transformation would last. Was it just a honeymoon period?
But, one year later, it is still going strong.
Inspiring.
